[oi-dev] Shipping the nano editor alongside with vi

[Chris]

On 2021-01-11 12:59, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Jan 2021, Chris wrote:
>> While vim(1) is my "goto" editor, and vi(1) really isn't difficult. My 
>> frustration
>> comes in the fact that each OS implements a different version, with 
>> different
>> keyboard macros. Which quickly made ee(1) my goto when I was working in a
>> "constrained" env (like dropping to single-user), and just needed to make 
>> some
>> simple edit(s). BTW I'm the maintainer for ee(1) on FreeBSD. ;-)
> 
> I have not tried 'ee'.  The biggest gripe I have with 'vim' is that it is 
> way too
> fancy by default.  For example, I often copy and paste using the mouse 
> (especially
> for system administration purposes) but 'vim' detects a mouse and prevents 
> simple
> copy and paste of text from one window to another. The wiz-bang features can 
> be
> disabled but this is problematic when one is configuring a new system.  It 
> is
> necessary to fix the editor configuration (perhaps using cat to a file 
> rather than
> an editor) before the editor is usable.
> 
> Other problems I have is with editors (e.g. vim) and commands which 
> "colorize"
> everything.  There seems to be an implicit assumption regarding the 
> background
> color (maybe black?).  But I have already set my default background color to 
> a
> light background which is pleasing for my old eyes and then I can barely 
> make out
> the text on the screen.
Editors, like DEs (Desktop Environments) are a *very* personal thing. Getting 
it
right for *everyone* is a lost cause. ;-)
OTOH importing all your dot files immediately after an install, can go a long 
way
to getting it right. I like Bright on Dark for my old eyes. ;-)
> 
> It would be good if fresh systems would default to fewer quirky wiz-bang 
> features
> yet allow them to easily be enabled for a Linux-like experience.
I just this moment completed a fresh OI install, and lo-and-behold, there was 
a
copy of nano available. Without requiring a pfexec pkg install nano. :-()

--Chris
> 
> Bob

-- 
~40yrs of UNIX and counting